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>Conventions</A
></H1
><P
>  This book uses the following typographical conventions to mark
  certain portions of text: new terms, foreign phrases, and other
  important passages are emphasized in <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>italics</I
></SPAN
>.
  Everything that represents input or output of the computer, in
  particular commands, program code, and screen output, is shown in a
  monospaced font (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>example</TT
>).  Within such
  passages, italics (<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>example</I
></TT
>) indicate
  placeholders; you must insert an actual value instead of the placeholder.
  On occasion, parts of program code are emphasized in bold face
  (<SPAN
CLASS="bold"
><B
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>example</TT
></B
></SPAN
>), if they have been
  added or changed since the preceding example.
 </P
><P
>  The following conventions are used in the synopsis of a command:
  brackets (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>[</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>]</TT
>) indicate
  optional parts.  (In the synopsis of a Tcl command, question marks
  (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>?</TT
>) are used instead, as is usual in Tcl.)  Braces
  (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>{</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>}</TT
>) and vertical lines
  (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>|</TT
>) indicate that you must choose one
  alternative.  Dots (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>...</TT
>) mean that the preceding element
  can be repeated.
 </P
><P
>  Where it enhances the clarity, SQL commands are preceded by the
  prompt <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>=&gt;</TT
>, and shell commands are preceded by the
  prompt <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>$</TT
>.  Normally, prompts are not shown, though.
 </P
><P
>  An <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>administrator</I
> is generally a person who is
  in charge of installing and running the server.  A <I
CLASS="FIRSTTERM"
>user</I
>
  could be anyone who is using, or wants to use, any part of the
  <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> system.  These terms should not
  be interpreted too narrowly; this book does not have fixed
  presumptions about system administration procedures.
 </P
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